The Next Night OOC

Hey there, everyone. Mippins here.

I'm deeply sad to announce that due to some personal things that have come up rather suddenly, I'm not in a position where I can continue to mod for you all, and thus In the Night will have to close. I hate that it's come to this, but I don't see another way forward and I think it's best to make this call now than to struggle along and see the game die slowly.

As for the logistics, we'll open the game comms so that anyone who wishes may continue to use the game as a sandbox. The game pages will be left as they are, and nothing will be deleted. You're all welcome to do what's best for yourselves in deciding what happens to characters and such from here on out.

I want to thank all of you for being part of this game and for building up such a strong sense of community within the playerbase. You're all hands down the best playerbase I've ever encountered, and I'm sorry to let you down like this. I'm not feeling especially eloquent right now, but I hope you all know that I don't make this decision lightly. I love this game, I've loved telling this story with you all, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to mod for you all for as long as I have.

It's truly been a pleasure flying with you, players. Please take care of yourselves and stay healthy, and I hope that I'll have the pleasure of playing with you again sometime.

Mippins

Hey there, players! We hope you're all staying safe out there. Have you checked out Pluto's post yet? We suggest you give that a read before diving into this announcement! It's a long one, so strap in. We've got a lot to cover today.

We mentioned in the cat herd that April would begin our transition into act 2, and we're happy to announce exactly what that means:

In May, we'll be introducing a faction mechanic that allows characters to ally with either the Night Market or the Wild Hunt.

So, pump the brakes for a second. In the Night is not going to suddenly become a faction-heavy game. The faction mechanic is meant to represent a sort of IC voting system to direct the plot. You've perhaps noticed by now that the Night Market and the Wild Hunt have radically different goals for the future of this world, and they're not goals that can coexist.

How this story shakes out is up to you, wonderful players, and the faction mechanic is meant to give you the scaffolding to do that. Characters can hop aboard whichever faction best suits their interests, and the plot will progress based on faction numbers and efforts... Or, there's door number three. If both factions' plans sound like hot garbage to your character, they can always stay neutral and come up with a better way forward. Neutral characters won't get benefits or consequences from either faction, and they'll enjoy the freedom to explore a way to resolve things without fighting the World Eaters head on or euthanizing the world.

That said, we do want to be extra clear: The only endings we have planned out for this game are the Wild Hunt ending, the Night Market ending, and the RESET ending, which is exactly what it sounds like. We're more than happy to drum up a fourth ending, but you have to tell us what it is. Neutral characters are more than welcome to fire up their very own faction, and they'll be able to find other NPCs in town that can support their cause.

There's a reason we spent months laying the foundation before introducing the faction mechanic. We very much hoped for the characters to build their own bonds and community before bringing in established factions. We wanted to give characters a chance to settle on what they want before getting swept up in a faction war, and though we'll be welcoming new faces along the way, we don't expect the strong foundation built in these first few months to wash away anytime soon.

•••
Before we continue, small note: we had planned to have more of a finished product to share with you, but this pandemic has thrown us all for a loop. We had intended to formally launch the Wild Hunt's neato hiring mechanic to better transition into this faction stuff, but in the interest of not overworking ourselves and not overloading those of you unable to engage with RP right now, we'll be pushing that launch back. Instead, we'll introduce that later in the month, and for now, we'll just tell you about it! We hope you all understand.

The Wild Hunt will have a shop system similar to the Night Market, but theirs deals in manpower. Characters will be able to hire members of the Wild Hunt to help them with various things. Wild Hunt members can be hired to build/repair things around town, teach skills, scout unexplored territory, and even assist on explorations. Oh, and you know how some Night Market vendors are played by players? We'll be opening up opportunities for players to play Wild Hunt NPCs for these purposes, too.

We'll of course be releasing more details as to how that all works once the mechanic is up and running, but in the meantime, that's what you need to know going into the faction breakdown. Here's what you can expect from allying with the Night Market or Wild Hunt, or staying neutral:

THE NIGHT MARKET	UNALIGNED	THE WILD HUNT
BENEFITS Night Market discounts Access to the Helix station during Night Market visits Pluto's digits (you can contact her through her network inbox) Access to exclusive Night Market plots	BENEFITS Can make purchases from both factions Best of both worlds in that sense, everyone thinks you're swell!	BENEFITS Wild Hunt discounts Access to the Wild Hunt's mines Kimiko's digits (in spirit; she's not on the network, but you'll be able to visit her for a chat) Access to exclusive Wild Hunt plots
DRAWBACKS Can't hire the Wild Hunt Will run the risk of being hunted by the Wild Hunt during explorations outside of town, and of receiving Wild Hunt random encounters (they may vandalize your home, steal from you, or attempt to steal your lantern)	DRAWBACKS No super cool boons from either faction :( You've got a decision to make eventually	DRAWBACKS Banned from the Night Market Will run the risk of being hacked by the Night Market, and of having ferry item orders messed with

Let's go into more detail on a couple of these list items.

What's on the Helix station/in the mines? A secret, for now! That's the one part of all this that we're going to stay coy about. You'll have to join the faction to find out.

What about the exclusive plots? Yeah, we sounded a lot like a mobile game trying to get you to pay up for premium just then. The faction-exclusive plots are mostly side quests that characters can ICly work on to benefit their faction. For example, the Night Market might ask a group of characters to experiment with forest spirit communication methods, or the Wild Hunt might send characters on a fetch quest to find particular resources. You can engage in these plots at your leisure.

There will also occasionally be faction-specific prompts during events, but we don't intend to implement the faction mechanic into all or even most gamewide events. Regardless of where your character falls in the faction situation, everyone's still stuck in the same dark town with the same threats looming.

Speaking of threats, let's talk about the drawbacks. The consequence of joining one faction is that you make the other your enemy; it's nothing personal, but hey, you are actively working against the opposing faction's goal. They're not about to take that lying down.

Characters cannot opt out of being harassed by the opposing faction. More on this in a moment, but this game is designed to have consequences, and they're only going to get steeper from here on out. If you want the perks of signing up with a crew, you have to accept the risks as well. Joining a faction is not a decision that should be made lightly.

That said, good news! The Wild Hunt will not spontaneously murder your character, nor will the Night Market wreck their tablet or bar them from item orders completely—unless your character antagonizes either faction and brings it fully upon themselves. The negative random encounters from either faction are meant to be interesting struggles for characters to overcome, and you do get a say in how exactly the encounter happens. We're going for fun, not frustrating.

For example, let's say you've joined the Night Market and you receive a random encounter from the Wild Hunt. It might look something like this:

"Hey there, Mippins! The Wild Hunt has paid Newt a visit! When he returns to his apartment, he'll find that someone's broken in and ransacked the place. His belongings and furniture are disheveled, mud has been tracked everywhere, and he'll realize that much of his food and some of his clothing have been stolen. He's also missing an item of particular importance to him. Bummer!"

And that's it. When exactly this happens and the severity of the break-in are up to the player to decide. Maybe I'll decide Newt's tablet gets stolen and he'll get a new one and it's annoying but not the end of the world... or I could decide they've stolen his beloved keyboard, and he'll be devastated, etc. Maybe they broke a window, or stole his torch, or left some reading material on why he should really consider joining up with the Hunt instead—totally up to the player to decide!

The important thing to note is that we'll never just show up in your inbox with a negative encounter that will permanently affect your character in a major way. You do get a say, just like in other aspects of the game like our death consequences or the various risks during explorations.

There's a lot more to how the random encounters will work since we're sure you'll want to know how they'll be doled out and such, but this post is already hella long! We'll give you all the full rundown when the faction system goes live, and for now, please feel free to ask any questions you have down below.

•••
Okay, so we've got factions now. What's the game going to look like moving forward?

For starters, the faction benefits and drawbacks will only affect your character, not your character's CR. Although we imagine the ideals of each faction will create some conflict ICly, there are no rules or mechanics that will split characters up. Characters may choose to ally with either faction, but everyone is still just a resident of Beacon at the end of the day. Teaming up with the Night Market doesn't guarantee a spot on the Helix station should there be a reset, nor does teaming up with the Wild Hunt mean you have to go live in the woods for the rest of the game. All characters in game can freely interact with each other... though faction members will be encouraged to, well, evangelize, essentially. Recruit!

All this to say: your character's choice in faction will affect them and only them, barring IC reactions. Your CR won't be punished, and you're welcome to ICly work with members of the opposing faction. Want to use your Wild Hunt boons to help out your neutral or Night Market pals? Go ahead, just don't let Kimiko find out what you're up to.

Beyond that, we do have a faction war ahead of us, but we're thinking of it more as a great philosophical debate that just, uh, happens to employ tactics like guerrilla warfare, theft, espionage, and so forth. Will all of this result in a proper faction war? Maybe! Factions can also be extinguished due to lack of support, and the diplomacy approach to attempt to reconcile the two sides is a valid avenue to pursue. It honestly all depends on what the characters get up to.

•••
Alllllll that said, we do anticipate that the neutrals will make up the biggest faction for at least the first part of act 2. We're not spending as much time on the middle grounders because, frankly, the game won't change much for folks in the middle!

Neutrals will be able to freely interact with either faction. They'll be able to hang out at the Night Market while it's open for business and they can hire labor through the Wild Hunt. They won't be subject to harassment/negative random encounters from either side, but they also won't get access to the cool faction benefits, either.

For now.

The neutral party, in some ways, will have the more difficult job of all going forward. Characters will either need to stop waffling and commit to an ideal, or they'll need to come up with a plan of their own. If unaligned characters do come up with a third option to move forward, this will create a third faction that has goals, benefits, and drawbacks all their own. Again, this is entirely up to you, players, so we can't exactly lay out what the future will look like for the folks in the middle. Just know that you do have options there.

•••
This has been one hell of an update, so we'll leave it here for now, and of course feel free to ask questions below. We've just got one last note for you all to keep in mind as we move forward.

We know we've just introduced a lot of OOC mechanical stuff that's likely given you a lot to think about with regard to your character's place in the game. It's a lot to consider, but we strongly encourage you to make decisions based on your character's IC philosophies as the game moves forward.

The biggest change that will come about from these new mechanics are that characters can no longer have everything, so to speak. There's no "right" or "best" way to move forward; each faction, including the neutrals, has its own benefits and drawbacks, and the stakes are only going to get higher as the plot progresses.

Your character will make enemies of NPCs. Your character will have to make difficult moral and philosophical decisions. Your character will have to confront the fact that there may not be a "golden end" that allows everyone to get what they want in the end. Your character will have to make sacrifices in some way, and they'll have to commit to something bigger than themselves to fully reap the rewards of overcoming these challenges. The amount/severity of consequences and struggles they face depends on how you play the game, but it will be more and more difficult for your character to opt out and let the story happen around them. Your character will change, and perhaps not in ways you expected them to.

We lay all this out for you because we want to be abundantly clear about the game's stakes. We want to prepare you for IC failures so that they don't come as a surprise, and so that everyone understands that negative consequences do not mean you're doing something wrong. At times, characters will need to fail in order to make progress. These IC failures are not OOC failures. Fun, not frustrating! We encourage you to embrace the struggles.

And that's it for now, dear players. Thank you all for building this story with us, and we're psyched to see where it goes from here. Stay tuned for the April gameplan, which will go up before the month is out. Take care of yourselves, everyone.

Hey there, players! All of the random encounters for THE NIGHT WE MET have been sent out! In case you missed any, here's the full list:

SPIRITS	OPALS	???
JO	MOLLYMAUK	SARISSA
ALISAIE	FJORD	SOMNUS
NAMINÉ	MATT	PROMPTO
BRUCE	KAL-EL	IGNIS
RIKU	MISTY	AZIRAPHALE
STEVE	PETER P.	ELIOT
SORA	VANITAS
JASON T.	AMBROSE
DAYLIGHT	MAES
LINK	DEAN
CASTIEL	PETER M.
ROSINANTE	KOL
DUSTER

This is just a list for OOC reference, so as always, we encourage folks to spread information around ICly, especially if you've received some info that might be plot important.

We hope you had fun with this event, because we sure did! ❤

Howdy, players! Some new locations have been made available in Downtown Beacon!

• The Landmark's elevator is now available for use! Thanks, Superman! There were 25 torches just chillin' in the elevator shaft, but those have been safely returned to the bonfire. Enjoy your +25 health boost, Beacon bits.


• The Delft has been unlocked! You can find the full description on the setting page, but some highlights: Riku, Vanitas, Bruce, Peter, and Jason discovered a set of projectors connected to those weird electrical boxes y'all keep finding around town, and the projectors aren't currently operational. They also found a whole library of movies to watch!


• The courthouse is... still pretty locked! Not for lack of trying, but perhaps some fighty-types will want to take a stab at dealing with those pesky spirits. The courthouse will need to be explored further before it's fully unlocked, but the setting page has been updated with Rosalind and Javert's findings.


• Duster and Tadashi unlocked the Fallout Shelter! You can find the full description on the setting page, but some highlights: constant forest spirit rave time, and a DJ playing songs off of the Songbird app who will totally sell you drugs. Specifically, weed, cigarettes, cocaine, MDMA, and LSD if you're willing to pay... in bling! This forest spirit wants shiny stuff to wear, so hook them up and they'll hook you up right back! (As a note, players are welcome to handwave these trades or play them out on their own!)

So, hooray, you've at least partially explored all of the buildings downtown! Nice work!

Here's a quick list of the stuff that still needs checking out/solving!

• The lower level of the shopping center (with the outdoor rec shop and tech shop) is flooded! The tech shop is locked up, and the outdoor rec store is open, buuuuut the entrance is blocked by a bunch of crocodilian forest spirits that don't seem very friendly.


• The leggy forest spirits in the courthouse will need to be dealt with in some fashion before the courthouse can open up!


• Sometimes, the smaller details on the setting page can be worth exploring further! If characters ever miss stuff in a location discovery, we sneak it onto the setting page just in case anyone notices... 👀 We'll never let you miss big important stuff, so these things are more like easter eggs and little hints. If a detail on the setting page ever catches your eye, it might just be worth checking out in an exploration!.

Please keep in mind that downtown explorations are still limited to one per player, but we'll be lifting that at the end of the month! If you haven't had a chance to explore downtown yet and you'd like to, be sure to get a plan together before March 1!

That's all for now, players, and please let us know if you have any questions! If you'd like to plan a downtown exploration, you're welcome to us this post to do so! Here's a handy form to get you started:

<b>player:</b> (feel free to put your contact info here if you like!) <b>character(s):</b> <b>plans:</b> (which areas of downtown are you most interested in checking out? how would your character attempt to do that? what could your character contribute to an exploration team?) <b>notes:</b> (anything else worth mentioning, like permissions/opt-outs/hiatuses/etc.?)

Hello everyone! Last month we mentioned that with the changing of hands on our mod team, we'd been planning on taking a look at our application process and giving it a bit of an overhaul. With the posting of the current test drive meme, our new procedures are officially complete and ready to roll out for the upcoming app round that will take place at the end of the month!

Take a look at the application and faq pages to read the new information for yourselves, but in the meantime here is a quick rundown of what's different:

• The game now has an increased player cap of 70 and in proportion to this, each cast has an increased cap of 7!


• We've added a more concrete guideline in the application portion of the faq on how we determine whether or not a canon will or won't be absorbed into a franchise to help eliminate confusion on the issue.


• There will no longer be a reservation period involved in our application cycle.

We know that doing away with reserves entirely is quite a radical move, so we want to take a second to explain why we're trying this out. Our intention is that operating on a fully first-come, first-serve basis will ultimately streamline the application process, as our apps system has always felt a bit clunky to us. Doing away with reserves is something we've decided to test after discussing how to make our system run more neatly, since we've noticed a good amount of confusion in the past over the different cut-offs and deadlines. Now, there's only one deadline to keep track of, which will allow us to make the amount of available new player slots clearer from the get-go. We're hoping that this will be easier on both incoming players and on us as a mod team.

As always, changes made to any portion of the game are meant for the betterment of our community as a whole. We're always excited to try new ideas and explore new ways of running a game, and the great thing about that is that we can head right back to the drawing board if any changes don't work out the way we intended. We always strive to show our playerbase that we're willing to listen to feedback, and we do our best to keep our ears to the ground so that we can be proactive about game updates. We can't tell you how much we appreciate your collective willingness to try things out with us! We absolutely adore all of you for your continued patience, understanding, and candid attitude. Thank you for bearing with us as we try to make In the Night a fun experience for you all!

Hello Beacon Bits, this is mod Leu with an important announcement.

As some of you who have me on plurk may be aware, there have been some rough things going on in my personal, offline life. I won't go into details here, since that's not the point of this message, but these personal issues have been affecting my abilities as a mod for some time. A couple of months ago, I tried to remedy this situation by taking on a bit of a lighter load in terms of modly duties, but I've since found that the stress is still just too much on top of everything else.

So instead of stepping sideways, this time I'm stepping down for now. As of today, I am no longer on the mod team for In the Night. There is a chance I may return to the team in the future, once things get sorted elsewhere, but that's something to discuss another time.

Now first things first: I'm not leaving the game entirely. I'll still be around with Will (demoted to PC status), and I might app another character in the near future. I'll still be a player and a presence in the game. In addition, I'll soon be taking up a post as moderator for the game's discord chat.

My former mod responsibilities (apps, faq, etc.) have been taken up very graciously by our aux mods, and the NPCs I played will remain as they are, just with someone else at the controls. I will no longer be in charge of any plot info— by virtue of being on the team before, I do know things about the plot, but I won't be sharing or answering questions about events or anything, and I won't be able to help with game issues aside from directing you to the proper channels.

For those still engaged in defender threads from the Enter Mr. Sandman event, fear not! I will not be dropping those threads, but will continue to respond until Dec. 7th, at which point any unfinished threads will have to be summarized.

Please know that this isn't a decision that I make lightly, and that it has nothing whatsoever to do with you players. You've all been absolutely delightful to mod, and I feel very lucky that my first mod experience was with a playerbase like you. Here's hoping I can manage to come back to the mod team someday, but even if I don't, it's been a pleasure, and you're all fantastic.

If you have any questions about the logistics of this situation or how something in-game might be affected, please ask below! I will not be answering personal questions on this post, but myself and the mod team are here to ease your mind about this transition.

Thank you guys for everything.

Good evening, Beaconistas! Thank you so much for your patience as we overhauled the explorations system, and we apologize for the delays. But, hey, good news! Explorations are open again! We have two explores still underway, which means there are six open slots for exploring stuff as of this posting.

Please make sure to give the page a thorough read before embarking on an exploration, as we've pretty much rewritten the whole thing. Ultimately, the system's been simplified, but it's still a new process that may take some adjustment. Please go ahead and drop any questions you have about the new system in a comment to this post!

And as a final note: If your character plans to construct a new structure in Beacon, you may now submit that on the explores page as well! There's a separate form for it at the bottom of the page.

Thanks again, lovely players, and remember to sign up for the ENTER MR. SANDMAN EVENT if you haven't already! Signups close roughly 24 hours from now. Sleep tight. :)

We've got a new game mechanic for you guys this month! Remember the gacha machine during the spirit party? That may have gone a bit awry, but at least the Librarian saved the most important thing. The gacha machine is now an active part of game, and can be played with four times a month! Earn useful prizes! Earn questionable prizes! Earn things that might be more significant than you first realized! It's all fun and games right up until it isn't.

A note: incoming players are welcome to try this before the intro log goes up! 

Howdy everyone! There's a lot happening right now given that the intro log and OOC intro just went up, so let's get straight to business, shall we? We have a few game updates to share with you!

• The game history page now includes the major plot points and discoveries from July! If you notice we've missed anything you think should be included, let us know down below.


• The post office now has its own game page! You can submit ads to appear in the bulletin there, but you may also use the page for any other post office needs, such as sending mail, and... Sending mail! Say hello to the Postmaster General while you're there, fam.


• The setting page has been updated to reflect recent discoveries! Huzzah! The map now includes some smaller structures that haven't earned true Location status (i.e. the barbed wire fence en route to the lighthouse) as well as player-made structures (i.e. the bridges built over the river). These will collectively be referred to as minor structures.
  
  Which, speaking of the bridges, characters can now safely cross that portion of the river without having to submit an exploration! Such is the benefit of a good, sturdy bridge. Like, still be careful not to fall in, but that crossing is now safe from modly interference. Fantastic work, everyone. You've defeated us for now.
  
  One small note: You'll notice that the museum appears on the map, though there hasn't been a location discovery announcement yet! And there's no description! What gives, mods? Well, that location has technically been discovered, but we're giving the players who did the discovering a chance to poke around a little before adding it to the setting page. When it's available to the public, we'll put up a location discovery announcement.


• The housing page has been outfitted with a whole new set of available living quarters! The village includes 20 brand new housing options for you all, which should allow you to spread out a bit, or at least move to a proper house with multiple bedrooms.


• The item requests page has had a few minor updates for clarity on item-requesting rules, as well as a reminder to return torches once you're done with them! This is mostly in relation to explorations; torches permanently placed in living quarters or around town can be kept in those places, well, permanently.


• We've updated the FAQ to include more information about AC, as well as an explanation of how we'll be handling reserves going forward. There's no new info about that, but we're updating the pages to make sure everything's in order. If you don't know what we're talking about, see this mod announcement for more information.

And that's that as far as game updates go! Before we cut you loose, though, we wanted to talk a little bit about what to expect from In the Night in terms of pacing/speed as we move forward.

Firstly, we want to reassure everyone that we've tried to design the game to accommodate a range of playstyles, especially in regards to tagging speed. There's plenty of room for everyone to get to do cool stuff in this game, whether that means making discoveries during explorations, signing up for plot opportunities, organizing player-run projects, etc. Quite a bit has happened in this first month, as we've been blessed with a ton of proactive players, and we understand that that's just as exciting as it may be overwhelming.

It may not be immediately apparent from a player perspective, but we're doing our best behind the mod curtain to make sure that we're doling our plot opportunities and discoveries in a strategic way. We know firsthand how awesome it is to get to be part of something that matters to the game at large, and we try to spread new nuggets of information across as many players as possible. We'll absolutely reward those players that take initiative and get creative within the game, but we never want the plot to feel like a competition. We promise that it's not!

On top of that, we're always carefully considering how we pace new reveals so that we don't give away too much too soon. While a lot has happened already, this game is just beginning! There's plenty of neat stuff yet to come and no player is ever going to be too behind or too out of the loop to jump back in again. We encourage you all to throw spaghetti at the wall and try to get involved, but we want that experience to be fun for you, first and foremost.

In short, please play the game at whatever pace is most enjoyable for you! Allowing everyone the opportunity to leave their mark on the game is important to us, as that's one of our main goals for this game, and it's one of the reasons we decided to mod In the Night in the first place. If you're having trouble figuring out how to feel more involved with the game and its plot, we encourage you to get in touch with some of our other wonderful players. Use this post to chat with each other, if you like! We're sure your fellow players will be able to help you find your footing. Short of that, you're always welcome to drop us a line to spitball ideas for how to find your place in the game, too.

And lastly, here's a little glimpse into the future: These first two months of the game leading up to the lighthouse expedition is sort of like the game's prologue. That is, things are going to be fairly plot-heavy up through the event at the end of the month, but never fear! The plot will mellow out a bit after this stretch, settling into more of a marathon pace than an all-out sprint. Come September, characters (and players!) will be given some breathing room to digest everything that's happened up to that point. The overarching plot of the game will be given a less nebulous framework following this month's event too, which should help ease characters (aaand players!) into the idea of being "in it for the long haul" as opposed to "ah heck we gotta solve the everything right now".

Anyhow, the big takeaway here is this: Don't worry, we're just getting started.

It's been an utmost pleasure thus far, players, and we're so excited for the future. Thanks for bearing with us through this first month, and we mods are so genuinely blown away by the encouraging, collaborative atmosphere that you folks have brought to the game. We couldn't have asked for a more stellar playerbase.

That's all for now, folks! Drop your questions below if you're got 'em, and go have fun on the intro log. 👍